A candidate for constable in Butlerville is accused of criminal impersonation after he confiscated an iPhone on the pretense of being a law-enforcement officer, the Lonoke County sheriff’s office said.

Justin Michael McCallister, 28, was arrested Thursday on the Class A misdemeanor charge after he overheard a conversation in a convenience store about someone having found an iPhone on the road, claimed he was a lawman and took the cellphone, Sheriff John Staley said in a statement. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

McCallister said he served as a deputy marshal in another town, but when authorities checked with the agency, they learned he had not worked there since November and the town had not had a marshal since December, Staley said. The sheriff didn't say where McCallister claimed to work.

McCallister later turned the phone over to a deputy, the sheriff added. He is due to appear in Austin City Court on July 17.